Typically, videoconferencing, email or instant messaging are used as communications media for business collaboration.
Videoconferencing can be a ‘good enough’ substitute for face-to-face meetings, but is bandwidth intensive, and relies upon the scheduling availability of all parties. Telephone conversations are also widely used, but lack the visual cues of videoconferencing. Video-conferencing and meetings, despite these limitations, are often favoured as they offer immediacy, and engagement.
Emails and instant messages are also popular as they allow for a deferred receipt and response, and for this reason can be characterised as ‘asynchronous’ in nature. A full text-based record of all communications is also available for later reference, and is typically stored, indexed in various ways and searchable when needed.
Emails and instant messages are attractive on the one hand as they avoid the scheduling problems of synchronous communications media, and also retain a convenient record of communications. A particular limitation of such forms of communication is that they typically lack the immediacy and engagement of video-conferencing and similar forms of exchange, as referred to above.
Moreover, it can often be quite difficult to compose emails and instant messages to a desired level of clarity. Even the most articulate can struggle to present certain ideas, content or messages in email and instant messaging media. A notorious limitation of these forms of communication is the inability, or certainly difficulty, of conveying ‘tone’—with attendant potential for miscommunication, especially if the subject matter is in any way sensitive.
The limitations of email and similar messaging platforms are in this sense manifold—falling on one hand on those composing messages to carefully craft messages that adequately convey an intended meaning, and falling on the other hand on the audience seeking to discern meaning given the limitations of the medium.
An object of the present invention is to provide a form of electronic communication which at least attempts to address these and other limitations of existing forms of communication, and in particular provide an asynchronous communications medium that resolves or at least mitigates these and other difficulties experienced in communicating by existing channels.